All we need to know about iPhone 11 before we get our hands on it

After a year of rumors Apple has unveiled the long-awaited 2019 iPhone lineup: iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and iPhone 11.

Here are the new features, the tech specs, and,
importantly, the prices.

Processor, CPU and GPU:

At the core of this update is Apple’s new processor, the
A13 Bionic, which Apple claims is the fastest CPU and GPU in a smartphone.
Powered by 7-nanometer architecture, it packs 8.5 billion transistors into the
package, a massive upgrade compared to the A12 Bionic, which had 6.9 billion
transistors.

The A13 Bionic features four high-efficiency cores which
are 20 percent faster and consume 40 percent less battery power than the
previous generation, and two high-performance cores, which are 20 percent
faster and 30 percent more efficient than the A12 Bionic.

The GPU is also 20 percent faster and 40 percent more
efficient, while the neural engine come equipped with eight cores, is 20
percent faster and consumes 15 percent less power.

Battery
Life

For battery life specifically, the iPhone
11 packs one hour longer than the iPhone XR. This means you’ll get up to 17
hours of video, 10 hours of streaming video, and 65 hours of audio.

IP68 water and Dust resistance

Devices backed by an International standard
rating of IP68 are deemed fit enough to
withstand dust, dirt and sand, and are resistant to
submersion up to a maximum depth of 1.5m underwater for up to thirty minutes.

Face ID

Face ID is what allows iPhone users to
unlock recent iPhones using only their face – just by looking at the device.
The feature is much more secure than Apple’s old Touch ID authentication
system. It was first introduced on the iPhone X in 2017. Although Apple
expanded the system to the iPhone XS and iPhone XR lines in 2018, Face ID
itself has never received an upgrade.

But the
iPhone 11 series could change all that—and in the process make Face ID much
better to use

The phones will include a new
multi-angle Face ID sensor that captures a wider field of view so that users
can unlock the handsets more easily—even when the devices are flat on a
table, thus allowing much improved experience.

Yep, this means you could basically unlock
the iPhone 11 even if it’s lying flat on your desk. Currently, Face ID on the
iPhone X, XS, and XR requires that the device is held fairly closely right in
front of your face.

Super Retina XDR display

With this, Apple delivers an XDA display you
can take anywhere. The Super Retina XDR display is a custom-designed OLED panel
that boasts a 2 million-to-one contrast ratio.

It’s also brighter, reaching up to 1,200
nits, and features wide color support for more immersive HDR videos. But there
is no 3D Touch. iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max offer the same Haptic Touch
functionality as iPhone 11 and iPhone XR.

This display is combined with an incredible
upgrade in audio. iPhone now features spatial audio, which provides an
immersive surround sound experience and Dolby Atmos support.

Dedicated Night Mode

Apple’s new Night Mode is Apple’s rejoinder
to Google’s Night Sight, and from the little we’ve seen so far, the results do
look at least on par with the Pixel.

When using the camera app on any of Apple’s 2019 iPhones, the new Night Mode (
not to be confused with dark mode in ios 13 ) feature comes on automatically
when an indoor or outdoor scene is dark enough to warrant brightening,
resulting in natural colors and reduced noise.

In short, new iPhone users should see an immediate improvement when shooting in
low light environments, without having to adjust any exposure settings.

Let’s Learn about cameras….Why are three
cameras and what does each do ?

Main camera

26mm equivalent focal length

f/1.8 aperture

12-megapixel resolution

100% autofocus pixels

Optical image stabilization

The main
camera delivers that typical semi-wide-angle view onto the world. Apple has
stuck with a 12-megapixel resolution, too, which might seem somewhat low
compared to the 48MP options available elsewhere – but then it will offer Deep
Fusion, which we explain further down, to mitigate that point of difference.

Interestingly
every pixel across the sensor is able to be used for autofocus, which is
something even many dedicated cameras fail to offer, which will give the main
camera the best focus system out of the three.

It also
comes with the widest aperture, at f/1.8, meaning the most light can enter –
which is useful for shooting in low-light conditions.

Apple

Wide-angle camera

0.5x, 120-degree field-of-view

13mm equivalent focal length

f/2.4 aperture

12-megapixel resolution

Apple

The biggest
new feature is the addition of a wide-angle lens. It sees double that of the
main camera, hence its 0.5x zoom designation, meaning an equivalent focal
length of 13mm. That’s really wide – 120-degrees wide, which is about equal to
human vision flattened into an image – and will aid in cramming a lot more into
the frame.

Again, Apple
has stuck to the 12-megapixel marker, which is commonplace for such wide-angle
cameras. Whether the edge quality will stand up to scrutiny – something
competitors struggle with, we’ve found – is something we’ll have to wait to
find out.

The aperture
is f/2.4, meaning a little less light is let in, but this is necessary for a
wide-angle optic to ensure a balance of sharpness across the frame.

Zoom camera

2x optical zoom

56mm equivalent focal length

f/2.0 aperture

12-megapixel resolution

Optical image stabilization (OIS)

This 2x
optic means half the view of the main camera, thus a 56mm equivalent focal
length. To call it ‘telephoto’ is a reach, as that’s actually about as close to
a standard lens as you can get in traditional form, which will make it great
for portraits – it’ll avoid making faces look bulbous, as this focal length
keeps things flat and neutral, and as if subjects are closer-up to the phone.

Apple

This lens is
often thought of as Apple’s “Portrait Camera”, as it goes
hand-in-hand with that shooting mode, which uses software to blur the
background for a more pro-looking result (presumably with some edge
imperfections, as is typical, we might add) – or you can apply various lighting
effects, again using software.

What is Deep Fusion?

‘Neural image processing’

Combines elements from up to 9 images

Not available at launch, software update will
follow

Apple

Let’s
see what deep fusion is – The camera takes nine shots – two groups of four
prior to pressing the shutter, then one longer exposure at point of press – at
various shutter settings. It can then automatically look through these shots,
select the best combinations for sake of sharpness, ensuring there’s no blur,
and composite the best parts together.

This
is also a clever way to help negate image noise, that multi-coloured dotting
that can appear in images. As noise won’t appear identically in each frame, the
system will be able to select the least noise-ridden parts into the image for a
cleaner, sharper result.

In
a sense, then, Apple is looking to use processing rather than cramming pixels
onto a sensor to produce its best results. How it’ll turn out, we’ll have to
wait and see. But this is probably the iPhone 11 Pro camera’s most interesting
feature.

What
are the differences between the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11
Pro?

Before we take a tour of the tech specs, here’s a quick
summary of the differences between the three models.

The most obvious difference is that the iPhone 11 comes
with a 6.1-inch LCD display, while the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max come
with Super Retina XDR 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch OLED displays, respectively.

Another major, and quite obvious difference is that the
iPhone 11 is equipped with two cameras — wide and ultra-wide — while
the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max come with three — wide, ultra-wide,
and telephoto.

Another significant difference is capacities. While all
start with 64GB of storage, the iPhone 11 also comes with 128GB and 256GB
storage, while the Pro versions are available in 256GB and 512GB.